Puzzle Notes

Dear Friends:

We have two puzzles for you this week, the first of which is a bonus, attached. Elizabeth C. Gorski's "Exchange Counter" is 4.5/5 difficulty, 21x21-sized, and contains a meta. Liz has been a regular holiday guest for us, and we're always delighted to run her work!

The instruction for the meta is as follows: "This puzzle contains ten special squares; solve the puzzle, then bring the special squares together to uncover Jim and Della's Christmas presents to each other. Send the two presents to editor+love@avxwords.com by the end of Sunday, December 30th to be entered in a contest to win a prize."

Liz has a *fantastic* subscription puzzle, available over at www.crosswordnation.com, featuring Monday-Tuesday level puzzles. Highly recc'ed! She is also a contributor to the New Yorker crossword feature.

Finally, something warm. Earlier in the year, a number of our subscribers contributed to a fund to subsidize subscriptions for people who enjoy puzzles but cannot afford to pay for them. It's been a very successful effort, and I figured I would share a note from one recent recipient (with their permission): "I just wanted to thank you so much for this! I've really enjoyed my subscription so far and it's only been four days. I hope everyone who donated gift subscriptions knows how kind they are. :)" Thanks for your generosity. Another puzzle coming tomorrow night. Thanks for the tips last week, as well.

Happy holidays,

Ben and the AVCX crew

avxwords.com // @avcxword